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Robot Wars: The Fourth Wars
Robot Wars: The Fourth Wars was the fourth series of the British television game show Robot Wars. It was originally broadcast from 2000 to 2001 on BBC Two. The series was hosted by Craig Charles, the pit reporter was Julia Reed and commentary was provided by Jonathan Pearce. The Fourth Wars was also broadcast in the US on the TNN network as Robot Wars: Grand Champions. This version of the show was hosted by Joanie Laurer, with commentary provided by Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors commentator Stefan Frank. The Fourth Wars was the last series to feature the original 79.4kg weight limit for heavyweight competitors, which was subsequently increased to 100kg for the first series of Robot Wars Extreme. Repeats of Series 4 started airing on H2, a subsidiary of the History channel, from 29th January 2016. Format The series consisted of sixteen heats featuring six robots each. The heat format underwent significant changes, with the first round now consisting of two three-way 'Eliminators' where two robots would progress to the second round. As with Series 3, the second round featured a pair of one-on-one battles, the winners of which would face each other in the Heat Final. The winner of the Heat Final would progress to one of two Semi-Finals. The Semi-Finals followed the same format as those for Series 3, consisting of two rounds of one-on-one battles between the heat winners. Two winning robots from each Semi-Final would advance to the Grand Final, where they were initially paired off for two one-on-one 'Eliminator' battles. The winners of each 'Eliminator' would face each other in a final battle to determine the series champion. A play-off to determine third and fourth places was also planned, but did not take place after one of the competing robots withdrew prior to the battle. Seeded robots 1. Chaos 2 2. Hypno-Disc 3. Razer 4. Panic Attack 5. Firestorm 2 6. Behemoth 7. Steg 2 8. Gemini 9. 101 10. Spawn of Scutter 11. Wild Thing 12. Evil Weevil 2 13. Gravedigger 14. Bigger Brother 15. Wheely Big Cheese 16. Killerhurtz 17. King B3 18. Cerberus 19. Pussycat 20. Aggrobot 2 21. Diotoir 22. X-Terminator 2 23. Mortis 24. Berserk 2 25. Shadow of Napalm 26. Plunderbird 4 27. Sir Chromalot 28. Weld-Dor 2 29. Dreadnaut XP-1 30. Stinger 31. Centurion 32. Suicidal Tendencies 2 Heats Heat A Robots competing in Heat A: Chaos 2, Atomic, Indefatigable, Medusa 2000, King B3, Attila the Drum Eliminators *Indefatigable vs Atomic vs Chaos 2: Indefatigable eliminated *Attila The Drum vs King B3 vs Medusa 2000: Attila The Drum eliminated Semi-Finals *Medusa 2000 vs Chaos 2: Chaos 2 won *King B3 vs Atomic: Atomic won Final *Chaos 2 vs Atomic: Chaos 2 won Heat B Robots competing in Heat B: Razer, Robochicken, Velocirippa, Milly-Ann Bug, Pussycat, Reptirron Eliminators *Razer vs Velocirippa vs Robochicken: Velocirippa eliminated *Pussycat vs Milly-Ann Bug vs Reptirron: Reptirron eliminated Semi-Finals *Razer vs Milly-Ann Bug: Razer won *Pussycat vs Robochicken: Pussycat won Final *Razer vs Pussycat: Pussycat won Heat C Robots competing in Heat C: Firestorm 2, The Morgue, Scar, Bolt from the Blue, Diotoir, Ming 2 Eliminators *Scar vs The Morgue vs Firestorm 2: The Morgue eliminated *Bolt From The Blue vs Diotoir vs Ming 2: Diotoir eliminated :Note: After the eliminators, Scar broke down and could not be fixed in time so The Morgue was reinstated. Semi-Finals *Firestorm 2 vs Bolt From The Blue: Firestorm 2 won *Ming 2 vs The Morgue: The Morgue won Final *Firestorm 2 vs The Morgue: Firestorm 2 won Heat D Robots competing in Heat D: Steg 2, Crusader 2, Cronos, Iron-Awe, Mortis, Mazakari Eliminators *Cronos vs Crusader 2 vs Steg 2: Cronos eliminated *Mortis vs Mazakari vs Iron-Awe: Mazakari eliminated Semi-Finals *Iron-Awe vs Steg 2: Steg 2 won *Mortis vs Crusader 2: Mortis won Final *Steg 2 vs Mortis: Steg 2 won Heat E Robots competing in Heat E: 101, Dominator 2, Henry 2, Major Tom, Shadow of Napalm, Disc-O-Inferno Eliminators *Henry 2 vs Dominator 2 vs 101: Henry 2 eliminated *Disc-O-Inferno vs Shadow of Napalm vs Major Tom: Disc-O-Inferno eliminated Semi-Finals *Major Tom vs 101: 101 won *Shadow of Napalm vs Dominator 2: Dominator 2 won Final *Dominator 2 vs 101: Dominator 2 won Heat F Robots competing in Heat F: Gemini, Tornado, Kater Killer, Berserk 2, Inverterbrat, The Creature Eliminators *Tornado vs Kater Killer vs Gemini: Kater Killer eliminated *Inverterbrat vs The Creature vs Berserk 2: Inverterbrat eliminated Semi-Finals *Gemini vs The Creature: Gemini won *Tornado vs Berserk 2: Tornado won Final *Tornado vs Gemini: Tornado won Heat G Robots competing in Heat G: Gravedigger, Thermidor 2, Kronic the Wedgehog, Dreadnaut XP-1, Warhog, Darke Destroyer 2 Eliminators *Kronic the Wedgehog vs Gravedigger vs Thermidor 2: Gravedigger eliminated *Warhog vs Dreadnaut XP-1 vs Darke Destroyer 2: Warhog eliminated Semi-Finals *Kronic the Wedgehog vs Darke Destroyer 2: Kronic the Wedgehog won *Dreadnaut XP-1 vs Thermidor 2: Thermidor 2 won Final *Kronic the Wedgehog vs Thermidor 2: Thermidor 2 won Heat H Robots competing in Heat H: Wheely Big Cheese, Prizephita Mk2, Wheelosaurus, Killertron, Suicidal Tendencies 2, Maverick Eliminators *Wheelosaurus vs Wheely Big Cheese vs Prizephita Mk2: Prizephita Mk2 eliminated *Maverick vs Suicidal Tendencies 2 vs Killertron: Maverick eliminated Semi-Finals *Wheely Big Cheese vs Killertron: Wheely Big Cheese won *Suicidal Tendencies 2 vs Wheelosaurus: Suicidal Tendencies 2 won Final *Wheely Big Cheese vs Suicidal Tendencies 2: Wheely Big Cheese won Heat I Robots competing in Heat I: Killerhurtz, Destruct-A-Bubble, Splinter, Eric, Centurion, Small Torque Eliminators *Eric vs Killerhurtz vs Destruct-A-Bubble: Destruct-A-Bubble eliminated *Splinter vs Small Torque vs Centurion: Centurion eliminated Semi-Finals *Killerhurtz vs Splinter: Splinter won *Small Torque vs Eric: Eric won Final *Splinter vs Eric: Splinter won Heat J Robots competing in Heat J: Bigger Brother, Clawed Hopper, Bulldog Breed 2, Hammer & Tong, Stinger, Spikasaurus Eliminators *Clawed Hopper vs Hammer & Tong vs Bigger Brother: Clawed Hopper eliminated *Bulldog Breed 2 vs Spikasaurus vs Stinger: Spikasaurus eliminated Semi-Finals *Bigger Brother vs Bulldog Breed 2: Bulldog Breed 2 won *Stinger vs Hammer & Tong: Stinger won Final *Bulldog Breed 2 vs Stinger: Stinger won Heat K Robots competing in Heat K: Evil Weevil 2, Tiberius, MouseTrap, Little Fly, Weld-Dor 2, Sump Thing Eliminators *Evil Weevil 2 vs MouseTrap vs Tiberius: Evil Weevil 2 eliminated *Sump Thing vs Little Fly vs Weld-Dor 2: Weld-Dor 2 eliminated Semi-Finals *Tiberius vs Little Fly: Little Fly won *Sump Thing vs MouseTrap: MouseTrap won Final *Little Fly vs MouseTrap: MouseTrap won Heat L Robots competing in Heat L: Spawn of Scutter, Banshee, Knightmare, Vercingetorix, Plunderbird 4, Fat Boy Tin Eliminators *Knightmare vs Banshee vs Spawn of Scutter: Banshee eliminated *Vercingetorix vs Fat Boy Tin vs Plunderbird 4: Fat Boy Tin eliminated Semi-Finals *Spawn of Scutter vs Vercingetorix: Spawn of Scutter won *Plunderbird 4 vs Knightmare: Knightmare won Final *Spawn of Scutter vs Knightmare: Spawn of Scutter won Heat M Robots competing in Heat M: Wild Thing, Humphrey, The Steel Avenger, Reactor, Sir Chromalot, Scorpion Eliminators *The Steel Avenger vs Wild Thing vs Humphrey: Humphrey eliminated *Scorpion vs Reactor vs Sir Chromalot: Scorpion eliminated Semi-Finals *Wild Thing vs Reactor: Wild Thing won *The Steel Avenger vs Sir Chromalot: The Steel Avenger won Final *Wild Thing vs The Steel Avenger: Wild Thing won Heat N Robots competing in Heat N: Behemoth, Arnold, Arnold Terminegger, Rambot, Judge Shred 2, Millennium Bug, X-Terminator 2 Eliminators *Arnold, Arnold Terminegger vs Rambot vs Behemoth: Rambot eliminated *Millennium Bug vs X-Terminator 2 vs Judge Shred 2: Millennium Bug eliminated Semi-Finals *Behemoth vs Judge Shred 2: Behemoth won *X-Terminator 2 vs Arnold, Arnold Terminegger: X-Terminator 2 won Final *X-Terminator 2 vs Behemoth: X-Terminator 2 won Heat O Robots competing in Heat O: Panic Attack, S.M.I.D.S.Y., Overkill GTI, Saw Point, Aggrobot 2, Oblivion 2 Eliminators *Panic Attack vs Overkill GTI vs S.M.I.D.S.Y.: Overkill GTI eliminated *Aggrobot 2 vs Oblivion 2 vs Saw Point: Oblivion 2 eliminated Semi-Finals *Panic Attack vs Saw Point: Panic Attack won *Aggrobot 2 vs S.M.I.D.S.Y.: S.M.I.D.S.Y. won Final *Panic Attack vs S.M.I.D.S.Y.: Panic Attack won Heat P Robots competing in Heat P: Hypno-Disc, The Predator, Raizer Blade, V-Max, Cerberus, Terror-Bull :Note: V-Max was a reserve robot, who was instated after Onslaught was forced to withdraw due to technical difficulties. Eliminators *Raizer Blade vs Hypno-Disc vs The Predator: The Predator eliminated *Terror-Bull vs Cerberus vs V-Max: Cerberus eliminated Semi-Finals *Hypno-Disc vs V-Max: Hypno-Disc won *Raizer Blade vs Terror-Bull: Raizer Blade won Final *Hypno-Disc vs Raizer Blade: Hypno-Disc won Semi-Finals Semi-Final 1 Round 1 *Chaos 2 vs Steg 2: Chaos 2 won *Wheely Big Cheese vs Tornado: Tornado won *Thermidor 2 vs Pussycat: Pussycat won *Firestorm 2 vs Dominator 2: Dominator 2 won Round 2 *Chaos 2 vs Tornado: Chaos 2 won *Pussycat vs Dominator 2: Pussycat won Semi-Final 2 Round 1 *Stinger vs MouseTrap: Stinger won *Spawn of Scutter vs Panic Attack: Panic Attack won *Hypno-Disc vs Splinter: Hypno-Disc won *Wild Thing vs X-Terminator 2: Wild Thing won Round 2 *Stinger vs Panic Attack: Stinger won *Hypno-Disc vs Wild Thing: Hypno-Disc won Grand Final Eliminators *Hypno-Disc vs Pussycat: Pussycat won *Stinger vs Chaos 2: Chaos 2 won Playoff *Hypno-Disc vs Stinger: Stinger won by default Final *Chaos 2 vs Pussycat: Chaos 2 won Awards These are the winners of the various awards given out at the end of the series: *Best Design: Gemini *Best Engineered: The Steel Avenger *Most Original Entry: Gemini *Sportsmanship Award: Diotoir *Best Newcomer: Tornado Trial Competitions Like Series 3, two trials from Series 2 were held as competitions during the series. Pinball returned from the last series, whilst Soccer was replaced with Sumo. The winner was the robot with the best score at the end. Pinball Robots Competing: 101, Hypno-Disc, Spikasaurus, Stinger, Spawn of Scutter, Attila the Drum, Bigger Brother, S.M.I.D.S.Y., King B3, Razer, Banshee, Diotoir, Gemini, Firestorm 2, Inverterbrat, Killerhurtz. Winner: Gemini Sumo The Robot Wars Sumo Basho tournament was a head-to-head with Shunt. The aim was to push the house robot off the podium, or else hold on as long as possible. Cease was called after one minute. Robots Competing: Spawn of Scutter, Firestorm 2, Diotoir, Onslaught, Scorpion, Destruct-A-Bubble, S.M.I.D.S.Y., Kater Killer, Maverick, X-Terminator 2, Razer, Pussycat, Panic Attack, Behemoth, Bigger Brother, Thermidor 2. Winner: Panic Attack Christmas Specials During the Fourth Wars, a number of special shows were held over the Christmas period. These Christmas Specials were a Celebrity Special, Tag Team Terror, Northern Annihilator, Southern Annihilator and War of Independence. Celebrity Special In this special, celebrities teamed up with roboteers and took control of their robots in the arena. Robots and celebrities competing: Pussycat (Adam Woodyatt), Iron-Awe (Natalie Cassidy), Sir Chromalot (Shane Lynch), Killertron (Chris Eubank), Gemini (Anthea & Wendy Turner), Diotoir (Vic Reeves), Disc-O-Inferno (5ive), Wild Thing (Shauna Lowry). Round 1 *Diotoir vs Wild Thing: Diotoir won *Killertron vs Gemini: Gemini won *Sir Chromalot vs Disc-O-Inferno: Sir Chromalot won *Pussycat vs Iron-Awe: Pussycat won Semi-Finals *Pussycat vs Sir Chromalot: Pussycat won *Gemini vs Diotoir: Diotoir won Final *Pussycat vs Diotoir: Pussycat won Tag Team Terror In this special, robots were paired up into teams to fight each other. Only one robot from each team was allowed in the arena at a time and the teams could switch robots by 'tagging' them. Robot teams competing: Firestorm 2 & Scorpion, Bigger Brother & Plunderbird 4, Invertabrat & X-Terminator 2, King B3 & 101. Round 1 *Firestorm 2 & Scorpion vs Bigger Brother & Plunderbird 4: Firestorm 2 & Scorpion won *Invertabrat & X-Terminator 2 vs King B3 & 101: King B3 & 101 won Playoff *Bigger Brother & Plunderbird 4 vs Invertabrat & X-Terminator 2: Bigger Brother & Plunderbird 4 won Final *Firestorm 2 & Scorpion vs King B3 & 101: King B3 & 101 won Northern Annihilator In this special, six robots from the north of the UK entered the arena, with one robot being eliminated in each round until only one was left standing. Robots competing: Spikasaurus, Killerhurtz, Dominator 2, Stinger, Chaos 2, Suicidal Tendencies. *Sixth: Chaos 2 *Fifth: Stinger *Fourth: Suicidal Tendencies *Third: Killerhurtz *Runner-up: Dominator 2 *Winner: Spikasaurus Southern Annihilator In this special, six robots from the south of the UK entered the arena, with one robot being eliminated in each round until only one was left standing. Robots competing: Vercingetorix, Attila the Drum, Onslaught, Razer, Spawn of Scutter, Behemoth. *Sixth: Vercingetorix *Fifth: Spawn of Scutter *Fourth: Behemoth :Note: The Behemoth team was not given enough time to fix damage from Round 2 so the competition moved on to the next round without them. *Third: Attila the Drum *Runner-up: Onslaught *Winner: Razer War of Independence In this special, robots from the UK competed with robots from the USA to see which country had the better robots. Robots competing: *UK: Mortis, Panic Attack, Ming 2, Detonator. *USA: Ghetto-Bot, Rammstein, The Mangulator, Frenzy. Round 1 *Mortis (UK) vs Ghetto-Bot (USA): Mortis won *Panic Attack (UK) vs Rammstein (USA): Panic Attack won *Ming 2 (UK) vs The Mangulator (USA): Ming 2 won *Detonator (UK) vs Frenzy (USA): Frenzy won Round 2 *Mortis (UK) vs Panic Attack (UK): Mortis won *Ming 2 (UK) vs Frenzy (USA): Frenzy won Final *Mortis (UK) vs Frenzy (USA): Mortis won Television ratings The series' television ratings record was mixed. The series started promisingly, with Heat A reaching 3rd in top thirty highest weekly rated BBC 2 shows by attracting 4.05 million viewers. Heat B managed to earn second place with 3.97 million viewers, and although heats C and D ranked outside the top ten, Heat E became the first episode of the series to top the ratings with 4.68 million. However, from Heat F to the Northern Annihilator, the ratings for the series began to tank, with no episode prior to the Northern Annihilator reaching the top ten. Heat K became the lowest rated heat in the main competition of the series, attracting only 2.72 million viewers and placing 19th in the rankings. By being broadcast on BBC 1, the Celebrity Special notably became the only episode in Series 4 to rank outside the top thirty. Ultimately, once the Northern Annihilator was broadcast, the ratings for the series generally began to recover, ranking 9th with 2.74 million viewers. The remaining episodes all ranked within the top ten highest weekly rated BBC 2 shows, with the Southern Annihilator and Heat O both topping the list, and Heat N finishing second. Robot Wars: Grand Champions Robot Wars: Grand Champions was the name given to an American version of the Fourth Wars that was broadcast on the US cable network TNN in 2002. Shown around the same time as the second season of Extreme Warriors, the series run consisted of 23 episodes with all but one of the Christmas specials being shown after the Grand Final. The Celebrity Special was left out entirely, while the Tag Team Terror episode was moved to the end as the series' conclusion. The Grand Champions version of the Fourth Wars was presented by Joanie Laurer with commentary being provided by Stefan Frank. To adapt the series for an American audience, a number of changes were made: *Jonathan Pearce's commentary was completely replaced, with Stefan Frank being brought in to redub the relevant sections. However, Stuart McDonald's arena announcements were left intact. *All footage featuring Craig Charles and Julia Reed was edited out or replaced, although a clip featuring Philippa Forrester was used in the opening montages of the dubbed Heat A. As a result, all of the pre-match and post-match interviews were absent, with only the competitors' team introductions remaining intact in each episode. For other segments - including announcements on battle results and Judges' decisions - Stefan Frank revealed the outcomes. *Links featuring Joanie Laurer were added between events. *Measurements were converted from British to American units, as part of new statistics boards for every competitor. *In addition, various other elements - including the awards ceremonies and the Pinball Warrior/Sumo Basho side competitions - were cut. *The safety disclaimer/Robot Wars Club promo at the end of each episode was replaced with a different one stating "Building robots is dangerous and should not be done without great care". This message also appeared at the end of each episode of Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors and Robot Wars Extreme. As a result of these edits episodes were cut down from 45 minutes to around 22 minutes long to fit into a half-hour time slot, including commercials. More information on the episode order and airdates can be found in the episode guide. Category:The Fourth Wars